Southern New Hampshire University / Accessibility and Assistive Technology / Accessible and Inclusive Environments (Virtual or In-person)

Making an Accessible PowerPoint Presentation (Web App)

Updated on Sep 21, 2023

Screen readers can read the elements of a slide in the order they were added; this may be very different from the order in which things appear visually on screen. People who use a screen reader skim slide titles to navigate; they can quickly scan through a list of slide titles and go right to the slide they want. Using unique slide titles lets users clearly understand which slide they are on. Avoid using the same title for slides with spill-over information; consider including additional information such as ‘Slide Title 1 of 2.

Apply Accessible Design.

Avoid all capital letters.
Choose a San Serif font that is larger than 18 points.
Ensure embedded or linked media is accessible.
Ensure slide order is consistent with how you intend the slide to be read by others.
Review the following article to learn more about How to change the reading order in PowerPoint.
Remember to add a unique title to each slide.
Include ample white space between sentences.
Use bold font to emphasize rather than using excessive italics and underlines.
Use accessible templates. Go to the Branded Assets site and select the Southern New Hampshire PowerPoint.
Run the Accessibility Checker.

How to Run the Accessibility Checker in PowerPoint.

Select the "Review" button.
From the review ribbon, select "Check Accessibility."

The PowerPoint home ribbon with the "Review" section selected.

Describe all visual objects with an Alternative Text (Alt Text).

Explain “why” the image relates to the content. The Alt Text is read aloud by screen reading software. Review the following article to learn more about How to create Alternative Text.

For more information on how to run the accessibility checker in PowerPoint, you can go to How to Use the Accessibility Checker in PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Web App).

How to Add Alternative Text (Alt. Text) to Images

Right-click on the image.

The menu after right clicking the image.

Select "Edit Alt. Text."

Right Click menu with the "Alt Text" option boxed in.

Type the relevant information needed to understand the presentation in the text field box.

The box to add the alt. text for the image.

You can go to How to Add Alternative Text (Alt. Text) to PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Web App) for more information on how to add Alternative text.

Give hyperlinks meaningful display names.

Avoid using the actual URL or “click here.” Review the following article to learn more about How to Create Accessible Descriptive Links

How to Change the Reading Order of the PowerPoint

Reading order is essential for people with no movement or limited movements in their hands or who use wands, switches, or sticks to access their computer-and screenreader users. You want to ensure these users can scan or tab through all the slide elements in the order you intended.

From the Home ribbon:

Select the three dots
Select "Arrange."
Select "Selection Pane."

The "more" menu, with the "Arrange" option selected, then the "Selection Pane" option.

Go to the Home Tab in the "Drawing Group." You are going to select "Arrange," and you are going to press the “Selection Pane." Remember that the Selection Pane will stay open as you navigate from slide to slide to make your corrections. The selection pane lists the objects on the slide lists the objects in the REVERSE ORDER, so when a screen reader reads this slide. It will read the objects listed in the Selection Pane from BOTTOM to TOP. For example, if a screen reader were to read and access this slide, the user would hear the text starting with the content placeholder, the picture, the content place text, and the title. This differs from how a sighted user would see the slide's layout. The goal is to give all the users the same experience right from the selection pane. You can drag and drop items to the new location (remember it reads from the bottom up) and click and drag the title to the bottom of the Selection Pane. Another way to do this is by using s the ARROWS “Send backward arrows on the Selection Pane menu bar:

The selection pane with the reading order of the slide. With selection icon boxed in.

The reading order option with the reading order of the slide. With reading order icon boxed in.

Manually Check for Color Contrast Issues

Avoid using color as the only means of representing information.

Use sufficient contrast for text and background colors. Review the following articles to learn more about:

Review the articles listed below for additional support:

How to Check Color Contrast with A11Y (Please note the web-based site will only work on Google Chrome).
How to Check Color Contrast with Colour Contrast Analyser (CCA): (This free software will require you to download the application to your device).
How to Create Accessible Content for Color Vision Deficiency
Upload the content to a web-based Color Blind Vision Simulator such as Coblis: Color Blindness Simulator and look at what the content would look like through the eyes of people with different types of color blindness.

Use a simple table structure.

Avoid blank cells, split cells, merged cells, or nested tables.
Include a table header and descriptive summary of the specific information in the table. Review the following article to learn How to Create Tables, Graphs, and Charts.